


Reliance

by wwheeljack



Category: Senjou no Valkyria | Valkyria Chronicles
Genre: Gen, I'm really weak for the family dynamic between these three.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:41:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29059164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wwheeljack/pseuds/wwheeljack
Summary: Curtis' first fight was against a group of bullies who made Eileen cry, and even outnumbered by the bully's gang, he fought without fear. And, if he made a friend along the way, all the better. He would protect his sister and best friend to the end. He'd promised, and Curtis did not back down from a promise.
Kudos: 1





	Reliance

**Author's Note:**

> Valkyria Chronicles (c) SEGA

Eileen was bouncing on the balls of her feet, her green eyes bright with excitement as they shifted outside the farm house's window to the green pastures that stretched beyond their vision. Curtis watched his sister closely as his mother finished packing a small pack with supplies, sandwiches and snacks.

"Here you go, honey," his mother whispered as she kneeled in front of him and gently placed the pack on Curtis' back. "Keep your sister safe and in your sight and be home before dusk, alright, Curtis?"

"Yes, mother," Curtis agreed quickly.

His mother smiled and gently ruffled Curtis' hair before she gave him a gentle nudge towards Eileen, and thus the front door. Curtis gave his mother a look before he checked that Eileen's jacket was snuggly fit on his small sister's frame, took his sister's hand and, with a wave to his mother, headed outside.

The moment the two stepped outside their house, Eileen put all her weight against Curtis' hand and pulled him forwards. Her excitement for the start of spring was infectious, as even their mother and father were cheerier than usual, and even Curtis was feeling his sister's excitement.

Curtis loved spring, loved the flowers that blossomed, revealing a brilliance of color that broke through the months of snow that winter always settled down upon Smelk. Spring meant time he and his young sister could spend outside, away from home and chores. And spring always meant that the cold dregs of winter would finally leave and their family's farm could recover.

Eileen released her hold on Curtis' hand as they reached a small spring, which had traces of ice at the edges of its banks, before she turned to Curtis and smiled. Curtis returned the smile as his sister bent down by the spring and curiously touched the water.

She let out a squeak of shock and rapidly withdrew her hand from the water, green eyes wide with shock. "It's cold!"

Curtis scowled slightly as a knot of concern wound through his stomach and he kneeled beside his sister. "Careful, Eile-"

The shock of ice cold water hitting his face staggered Curtis away from his sister, who was giggling loudly, his legs skidding until he fell on his back. He laid on his back for a few moments, staring up at the trees for a few moments until his heart stopped pounding worriedly within his chest.

"C-curtis?" Eileen appeared over him, her expression now the one of worry as she peered down at Curtis. "Big bro? I'm… s-sorry…"

Curtis shook his head as he slowly gathered himself back onto his feet and gently ruffled Eileen's hair. She looked up at him, the worry that had set into her brow and eyes softening until she giggled and pushed Curtis away from herself.

"Stop it, big bro!"

"Stop what?" Curtis teased as he lunged for his sister, who dodged out of his reach, her boots pounding into the stream behind them.

Eileen narrowed her eyes as Curtis stalked towards her, her eyes shifting as he easily shrugged the backpack off his back and lunged forward once again. His sister dodged to his side, the stomp of her boots into the stream sending more cold water spraying across Curtis' back.

Curtis couldn't help but to laugh as he lunged across the spring, landing on the bank in front of Eileen. Eileen stopped in front of Curtis, one foot hovering over the bank while the other remained steady in the stream.

The siblings stared each other down until, with an excited shriek, Eileen lunged into Curtis, sending both rolling along the ground. They rolled until Eileen pinned Curtis, a proud smile beaming across her face before she leapt up to her feet.

Curtis gathered himself to his feet slowly before he turned a worried eye to Eileen. He would do anything to see his sister's smile but, for as much as he was happy to wrestle with his sister, he could not help but worry about her.

He could see that Eileen was shivering slightly, her hands shoved tight against her body as she crossed her arms over her chest and stomped her feet of the water soaking her boots surreptitiously. The promise he'd given his mother to protect his sister echoed in his mind, and watching as his sister shivered made the smile that had been aching to show itself vanish.

"You are shivering," he stated matter of factly as he approached his sister and pulled her to his chest. "Do not play in the water anymore. Mother will not be pleased if you get a cold again, especially if she knows I allowed you to play in the spring."

Eileen's smile vanished at Curtis' words, replaced by hurt that was so stark that Curtis couldn't do anything but flinch as she shoved away from him. Anger sparked in Eileen's eyes before she, without a word to Curtis, whirled around and bolted. She ran through the stream pointedly and up the opposite side of the spring's bank, vanishing within the trees before Curtis could react.

"Eileen! Eileen, come back!"

Fear seized Curtis' heart - he felt his stomach twist at the pressure and the urge to throw up snarled up from his stomach - before he raced after his sister. He snatched up the backpack before he thundered through the stream and charged up the hill, calling for his sister as he raced through the trees.

No response came from his sister, even as he shouted her name repeatedly, the pitch of his words rising with each failed response. Curtis skidded to a stop in a small clearing, his eyes snapping around the clearing for any indication of his sister, anywhere!

_Please, Eileen- I'm sorry! Come back!_

An all too familiar scream rent the air, scattering birds and freezing Curtis' feet to the ground. He could recognize Eileen's voice no matter what pitch she set it at and the fear that tore from her words was all but palpable.

"EILEEN!"

Rage burned through Curtis' chest, obliterating all the fear that had knotted within his stomach as he charged in the direction of his sister's scream. Branches whipped at his face, sharp leaves cutting his skin, though he paid no attention to any of it - not when his sister was in distress.

The few seconds it took for Curtis - running as if a wildfire was chasing him - to find his sister seemed to stretch out into hours, and it was a suddenness that he found Eileen, surrounded by five boys, all of whom were leering down at his sister. Eileen was shaking as she stared up at the boys, her back pressed into the grassy ground she'd fallen on, but the tears that were streaking down her cheeks was what stood out to Curtis.

One boy, a thick-shouldered boy with spiky brown hair and a mean glint in his ice blue eyes, was smirking as he bent down in front of Eileen and grabbed her hair. "You should watch where you go, girl. You could have hurt my friend, _missy_."

"I'm sorry! Sorry!" Eileen stammered as the boy continued to pull roughly at her hair - each tug making the rage in Curtis' chest blister and smolder, as if a dragon was tearing out of him.

The boy smirked, his sneer growing as he leaned closer to Eileen-

Curtis' fist slammed into the boy, sending the older boy rolling away from Eileen as Curtis faced the five bullies, glaring hate and rage in their direction. "Get out of here, Eileen. Now!"

"But- Curtis!"

"NOW!"

Eileen swallowed behind Curtis before, with a sob cracking from her mouth, she turned and fled - leaving Curtis to face down the five bullies. The one who Curtis had slammed into leapt to his feet, rage simmering in his eyes as he wiped away a streak of blood that had trickled from his mouth.

Slowly, the boy joined the rest of his pack, heading the group as all five glowered down at Curtis. They were all far bigger and older than Curtis, but he did not feel fear facing the pack down.

They had touched his sister. They had made her cry. They would _regret_ that.

Curtis cast one last glance in the direction his sister had fled before the five boys lunged at him, led by the angry shout of the brown haired boy.

He had worked on his family's farm, helping weed and plow the fields where they grew their crops, since he could remember and he had gained a lean toughness from every dawn to dusk day of work. Curtis was lean but strong for a boy of his age, and - though not an aggressive or confrontational person by any means - the merest provocation against his sister drew out a rage within Curtis that refused to back down. He did not fear these bullies, not when they hurt his sister.

He ducked the first swing from the leader of the bullies, dodging backwards on the balls of his feet, before a second boy lunged towards him. Curtis leapt to meet the older boy, his fist smashing against the bully's jaw with a crack that made the boy howl in pain and jolt away from Curtis.

"Get him, Chris!" The leader howled as Curtis dodged another one of his attacks, spittle flying from the enraged bully's mouth as he tried to grab for Curtis.

Curtis shot a glance behind him, when a lean, blond boy with angry eyes and an angry mouth, punched him in the jaw. Agony flared through Curtis' body as he stumbled forwards, straight into the fist of the leader, this strike hitting him in the ribs and knocking all of Curtis' wind from him.

Curtis coughed and staggered as the remaining bullies pounced on him, smashing him into the ground while he writhed and snarled, until four of them had him pinned under their heavier bodies. The leader approached Curtis and gave him a swift kick in the ribs that made him wraith in agony.

"Fight us, will you?" The leader spat as he towered over Curtis, eyes slits of silver anger as he glared down at the smaller boy. "I'll show you!"

Curtis tried to thrash out from under the four bullies holding him down, but he could not even move them a fraction. And so he could do nothing but watch as the leader of the bullies punched him in the jaw.

He heard the crack of his jaw before a wave of white hot fire pierced through his entire body. A howl of pain ripped from Curtis as he thrashed, desperate now to escape the four bullies, all of whom were now laughing at his expense.

"Haha, get him, Valon!"

"Stupid kid!"

And there was nothing Curtis could do to stop the bully as he continued to punch him, the older boy's fists smashing against Curtis' body until all he could hear was the roaring of pain tearing through his body. The sharp tang of copper on his tongue told Curtis that he was bleeding, but there was nothing he could do. He was not strong enough to shake the older boys, and he could not fight the leader… but, to Curtis, that did not matter. All he cared about was that Eileen was safely back home.

A snort above him echoed dimly in his ears, and it was with some difficulty that Curtis was able to understand what the leader of the bullies said.

"Pathetic. What a worthless little brat, scaring off that girl. She didn't apologize for ramming into me, did she?"

"Heh, no, she didn't," spat a different boy, this one's features, though swimming in Curtis' vision, was clear enough that he could see dark brown hair, cold blue eyes and an arrogant smirk looking down on him, "I'm sure she'd learn to watch where's she going if you'd had the chance to teach her."

The leader scoffed loudly before he bent down and grabbed Curtis by the collar of his coat. Curtis glared into the older boy's ice blue eyes, though this only made the bully laugh.

"So brave, protecting her. Is she your sister? If so, you need to teach her to watch where she runs. She didn't even apologize when she slammed into me so rudely."

Curtis snarled in response and prayed that none of the bullies could tell how scared he was. He hoped Eileen was safely back at home and that she hadn't disobeyed him this time, as she was wont to do some days. If she hadn't, and was watching from the trees or close enough that the bullies could find her, Curtis doubted he could protect her this time.

His head was pounding and his body was screaming with pain, and even the slightest turn of his head made his vision swim crazily. He would try his best - he would die to protect his sister - to distract the bullies, but he could tell their interest in him was waning.

Then he heard a cackle from his left and the boy he remembered being called Chris spoke. "Why don't we leave him and go find his sister? Punish her for his insolence, eh, Val?"

"Good idea-"

A roar was all Curtis heard before something smashed into the leader of the bullies, a tangle of limbs and dark hair that drew the attention of the four boys holding Curtis down. One swore loudly before he leapt up from Curtis and lunged after their leader, followed soon by the rest of his friends.

Curtis, realizing he was free, staggered to his feet, wavering as his head swam. When his vision finally cleared, Curtis turned to see a young boy - about his age - with dark brown hair duking it out with the five bullies.

Curtis did not hesitate as he leapt to help the stranger, leaping onto the back of the blond one before he punched the bully in the head. The blond boy shrieked and howled before he threw Curtis off his back, whirling on him in time for Curtis - who had swung onto his hands and whipped his leg out towards the bully - to kick the boy in the chest.

The blond coughed and stumbled into one of his companions, hard enough that the two fell in a tangle of flailing limbs. Curtis snarled and lunged at a third boy, one of the ones who had not spoken a word, his fist cracking into the bully's nose with a bone-shattering snap.

The boy screamed out loud before he turned on his heels and fled, his pained shouts gargled by his broken nose. Curtis whirled on the leader, who was sitting astride the young boy who'd appeared from where Curtis did not know and was punching the boy angrily, and leapt.

Curtis smashed his shoulder into the bully, toppling him so that the boy the bully had been punching could leap to his feet. The boy looked towards Curtis, his eyes an almost silver lavender, before he gave him a smile in turn.

"Thanks, partner."

Curtis grunted in response as the leader of the bullies slowly pulled himself to his feet, hate glimmering in his eyes as he shot a baleful glare towards Curtis. Behind the leader, the blond was limping away, and his other two companions were hovering some feet away, seeming uncertain about the fight.

"Hey, Valon, let's just go," the dark haired one said, his previous confidence gone now that he was not pinning Curtis to the ground. "This ain't worth it."

The leader, Valon, snarled before he shot Curtis and the strange boy standing beside him a glare, turned on his heel and bolted. His remaining three companions shot matching glares in Curtis' direction before they too followed their leader, all four vanishing into the trees finally.

Curtis sighed, the adrenalin that had kept him going for the entirety of the fight escaping him in such quickness that he almost slumped to the ground. The boy beside him noticed and caught Curtis before he slumped to the ground, his gaze worried as the boy - Curtis was surprised how strong he was - faced Curtis.

"Hey, you okay? You're bleeding," The boy's voice was high, but strung with concern, a worry that surprised Curtis - and made him nervous.

He had always been anxious around strangers, and only felt comfortable with his sister or parents… but this boy had helped him. Curtis shook his head in response, as his tongue had twisted itself and refused to untangle even as he thought of thanking the boy.

The boy - considerably taller and broader than Curtis - turned his head before he nodded and, with an expression of pure determination, practically hefted Curtis against him. "You live over the hill, by Cold Mountain, right?"

Curtis nodded weakly, exhausted, before he tried to push away from the boy. He needed to find his sister… "Eileen..."

"Hey, easy there! Hey-"

Whatever else the boy said blurred into darkness as Curtis fell unconscious, slumping against the boy as darkness claimed him.

* * *

Curtis woke slowly, his eyes opening with a blurriness that made him shake his head - an action he regretted immediately as his head shrieked with pain. A groan escaped from his mouth before Curtis slumped against his bed, though his vision had finally stopped swimming enough to reveal the worried expressions of Eileen and his parents - and the boy who'd helped him with the bullies.

Curtis stared at the strange boy nervously, his cheeks flaming suddenly when the boy smiled in his direction. "Uh…"

"Hey there," the boy said, "name's Laurent. Your sister here told me your name's Curtis, right?"

"Y-yes…" Curtis whispered. He didn't know this boy, this _Laurent_ , at all- why was he in his room and his family's house?

Laurent laughed lightly, a sound that was so relaxed it stilled Curtis' worried, anxious thoughts. He knew that Laurent had saved him from the bullies, and that he'd clearly gotten Curtis back home after he'd become unconscious. But for what reason had this stranger, someone Curtis did not know, helped him?

Only when he noticed his mother's worried expression and the confusion flicker through Laurent's eyes, did Curtis realize he had spoken aloud. He opened his mouth to apologize - say anything so as to not sound rude, _why did he always have to say the wrong things?_ \- but Laurent spoke before he could.

"I was fishing when I heard your sister scream. I thought someone was being attacked by a bear or a predator, so I ran as fast as I could to help… when I got there, I saw that gang had you pinned. I didn't need any reason to help besides the fact they had five against one."

Curtis didn't know how to respond to Laurent, not when the tone of Laurent's voice was as serious and truthful as it was. A look from his mother, stern and hard as forest pine, made him flush and, with a shy nod, Curtis thanked Laurent.

"Ah, it's nothin'," Laurent joked, though the lightness of his words seemed fake to Curtis, "friend."

"F… friend?" Curtis stammered out. "I don't know you-"

"Curtis." His mother's warning was clear in the low pitch of her voice, and the sharpness of her eyes. A reprimand that made Curtis flush and jerk his gaze away from his parents, Eileen and Laurent.

"Sorry…"

_Always be polite, Curtis, especially with strangers._ His father's words echoed in the back of Curtis' mind, shaming him for his rude behavior to Laurent. Curtis expected Laurent to be mad, or to at least leave - Curtis figured he'd deserve it.

But, to his surprise, Laurent only shrugged and smiled before he crossed his arms over his chest and jerked his head in Curtis' direction. "Nothing to be sorry for, partner. It's what friends do, right?"

"I… yes."

Curtis finally smiled in turn, before he turned to Eileen, who was staring at him with deep worry and love in her green eyes. He was relieved to see her alright, to know that the bullies had not hurt her. "You're alright…"

Eileen nodded, her smile broken and in pain, before she ducked her head and shuffled her feet against the floor. "Thank you, big bro… I… I'm sorry for running off. I shouldn't have…"

"No," Curtis shook his head before he turned a smile to his little sister, "there's nothing to apologize for, Eileen."

Eileen sniffled and wiped her eyes before she scrambled up onto Curtis' bed and snuggled next to him. Curtis wrapped his arm around his sister and gently ruffled her hair, happy to have her closeness and the knowledge she was safe and protected in their house made his heart - and all the worry for her - lighten.

He cast a glance towards Laurent, who was wringing his hands and staring intently at the ground, and truly observed the boy. Laurent exuded uncertainty as Curtis' parents quietly thanked him and left Curtis' room, his eyes tracking Curtis' parents until they closed the door to his room. Once they were gone, Laurent seemed to still, though his eyes never stopped moving as they shifted from the door, then to Curtis and Eileen and lastly to the ground once again.

Laurent seemed unsure of himself and the confidence Curtis had seen from the boy during their fight seemed nonexistent as he sat, feet scuffing the floorboards, in Curtis' room. Laurent had helped him, had an ease and calmness that even his shy sister seemed to accept, and if she could…

"Laurent?"

The boy's head snapped up at Curtis' voice, a flash of nervousness and guarded anticipation darkening his eyes, his head tilting ever so slightly. "Yes?"

"Thanks for helping me… and my sister. Want… want to be friends?"

Laurent's smile was all the reply Curtis saw before the boy excitedly lunged forwards and hugged Curtis. Shock stiffened Curtis' back at Laurent's hug, but he did not push the boy away, not when he felt a yawning need - a desperate desire - for friendship accept the boy's closeness.

Together, they would be strong, strong enough to protect Eileen, no matter what life threw at them.

* * *

Curtis stared at the plate of food sitting before him, his fork held tightly in his hand, hovering over the plate with uncertainty. He could hear the rest of Squad E laughing and joking in the background, but he did not share in their joy - feigned as it may be - not when he could not get the images of the bullet torn field of the Siegval line from his head.

Commander Wallace had deployed Curtis, Ryan and Keigel to take the northeastern most pillbox - along with the Imperial AT cannons that so threatened the _Hafen_ and the _Cactus_ \- a task that had been completed without severe injury. But the battle had gone much differently, as Squad E was ordered to charge the hill emplacements, no matter the risk to their soldiers.

Curtis had been lucky enough to escape fairly unscathed but Eileen and Laurent were nowhere near as lucky. Only after Commander Wallace had had Curtis, Jester and Ryan capture the last base of the Imperials and route the very last of the Imperials forces around did Curtis realize that his best friend and sister had been injured.

From what Ferrier and Stanley had told him, Eileen had been working on disarming landmines when an Imperial shocktrooper surprised his sister. Stanley had looked away from Curtis when he explained how Eileen had scrambled to her feet, the grip on her Brown M4 slipping before the Imperial fired, the blond shocktrooper of Squad E and his helmeted friend too far from range to help Eileen.

Only Laurent, who had been deployed with Eileen and the two shocktroopers to search out tanks or other heavy weaponry, was close enough - and then his friend had only the chance to jump into the Imperial shocktrooper's bullets before the enemy soldier could kill Eileen. Laurent had used his lance to neutralize the shocktrooper, but he'd still been injured enough to be evaced from the field along with Eileen.

Both his best friend and sister were injured, and Curtis had been nowhere to protect the two people he cared most about. He always did what was ordered of him, but Curtis could not chase away the guilt and hurt that chased him every day after that long siege.

Curtis felt steel bite against the palm of his hand and it was only the sensation of blood slipping down his arm did he realize that he had a death grip on his fork. A scowl pulled at his lips as Curtis carefully lowered his fork onto the plate of uneaten food and shoved the plate away from himself.

Curtis had promised Laurent and Eileen both that they would stick together, and that he would protect them no matter what came their way.

" _You're the one we're always counting on, Curtis."_

Curtis shook the nagging tenor of Laurent's from his head, hands digging against his scalp as he ground his teeth together. He was frustrated with himself and scared. Scared of losing his sister and best friend to the war, and afraid of what losing either of them would do to him.

_I have to do better._

Curtis was so focused on his thoughts that he never noticed the worried looks the rest of Squad E were sending his way, nor did he hear Stanley's normally cheerful voice, hesitant with worry and fear, call his name.

All he focused on was the memory of both Eileen and Laurent laid out in the medical wing, their injuries wrapped with gauze and their skin pale. His sister. His best friend. Curtis did not care what came next for Squad E, but he would _not_ let his sister or best friend fall. He would protect them, no matter what and no matter the cost to himself.

_I promised mother and father I would protect Eileen. They believed in me and relied on my strength. I cannot let them down. I cannot._


End file.
